Ok, here is something for you to consider.
The notion of the hierarchy of/in the food chain came to full organic life today.
It was morning and about to snow. It was not snowing yet, however. Now, a bona fide snowboarder and mountain biker would get this, i.e., that the weather means little of consequence.
So, I'm on the street, minding the traffic rules, waiting for the green light to appear when this monstrously big truck makes a left turn and almost runs over the blue Prius on the lane to my left.
I thought, 'wow!'
The Prius driver looked scared as any life-loving driver would have been in the same circumstance. She could really only do two things in that circumstance:
1) move to the right and threaten to harm me in the process
or
2) stay put and be potentially hurt by the beastly big truck.
The Prius, silver-haired driver looks at me confused, shrugs, and starts accelerating giving me a gestures I could translate as: "I'm really sorry to do this but if I don't move, I and the vehicle are in danger."
Nothing happened to all parties at the light but something did happen to me and I became, yet again, more acutely aware of space on the lane and how power is distributed.
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9 comments:
I love the fact that it was a Prius.
very interesting example of transportational overpowering hierarchy. what would the prius owner done had you been in a similarly sized car? a smaller car like a mini? a larger car like an SUV?
Wow. How interesting. I bet if you were in the '81 VW the Prius would have thought twice.
I am just baffled by how motorists misbehave!
Yes, this is a good food chair metaphor.
All I can say is:
OMG!
Snowboarders and Bikers of the World:
Teach the rest of humanity how to use space appropriately!
Scary. This is exactly the reason I'm very nervous about biking on roads. Even if I'm legally allowed there, I can't win in a collision.
I hate trucks.
I agree with the above.
More people need to bike and do ski sports :) Experience is the best teacher.
It's such an irony that it was a Prius. And the big truck is forcing the two environ. friendly things to fight it out for survival. Ha.
What a placement. Scary but didactic.
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